Shower heads



March 21, 1961 SIEBERT ET AL 2,975,980

SHOWER HEADS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS AMA/v HS/EBERT BY MAL/4M ffizo/vc/mk may, I 7 aw/1% March 21; 1961 A. H. SIEBERT ET AL 2,975,980

SHOWER HEADS Filed Aug. 11, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS AME/Y A! 5/550??- y I/V/ZZ/AM [flown/5K Mm, 6

AT TOR/VEY SHQWER HEADS Allan H. Siebert, Avon Lake, and William F. Blonchek, Parma, Ohio, assignors to Raven, Inc, Cleveland, Gino, a corporation of Ohio Filed Aug. 11, 1958, Ser. No. 754,193

4 Claims. (Cl. 239-316) The present invention relates to. shower heads, and more particularly, to shower heads adapted to be attached to a liquid supply pipe, such as a Water pipe.

The first principal object of the invention is to provide a shower head having an access door which will permit the introduction of a liquid soluble material that may be in the form of a capsule and may include a water softener, soap, shampoo, bubble bath substance, and/or antiseptic ingredients.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shower head, as set forth in the preceding object, which is of a simple configuration, and can be economically manufactured and easily installed.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a principally two-part shower head which can be quickly separated for easy cleaning and maintenance thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shower head for the purpose set forth in the preceding objects which can be economically and easily made of plastic or other nonmetallic and/or metallic material and be of any of several difierent colors so that the shower head color can be matched with the color scheme of its surroundings.

Another object of the invention is to provide an access door which can be easily operated to permit a user to insert a selected water soluble material inside the shower head without lost motion or without a great deal of attending difiiculty, the access door being held closed in a positive manner, resiliently biased closed and/or weighted closed independently of any liquid pressure or other assisting kinetic forces.

The invention further resides in certain novel features of construction, combinations and arrangements of parts, and further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which it pertains from the following description of the present preferred embodiment thereof described with reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and wherein the same reference characters representcorresponding parts throughout the several'views, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a preferred form of the shower head embodying the invention;

7 Fig. 2 is a bottom view of Fig. 1 showing a positively operated turntable-like access door concentrically disposed relative to the nozzle openings;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a second embodiment of the invention having a gravity closed poppet valve type of access door;

1 Fig. .4 .is a fragmentary, vertical sectional view of a modified poppet valve type of access door guide sleeve 2,975,989 Patented Mar. 21, 1961 enabling the door to be locked shut, with a stem of the access door being shown in hidden outline;

Fig. 4a is an enlarged sectional view along line 4a4a in Fig. 4;

Fig. 5 shows a vertical sectional view of another embodiment of the invention having a poppet valve type of access door capable of being locked or opened by rotating the door;

Fig. 6 shows a fragmentary elevational view of a still further embodiment of the invention having a positively operated horizontally sliding, panel-type, access door;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view along the line 77 in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 shows a detailed, vertical sectional view of a cup-shaped bottom wall of a shower head embodying a still further modification of the invention having a spring biased closed, swingable door;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary bottom view of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 shows another embodiment of the invention with the access door being shown in vertical section, the door being a pivotally mounted, weighted, hollow, spherically-shaped ball;

Fig. 11 is a sectional View along line 11-11 in Fig. 10, with part of a ball support member broken away to show a hinge;

Fig. 12 is an elevational view of a still further modification of the invention somewhat like that shown in Fig. 6, but with a positively operated, vertically sliding, panel-type access door; and

Fig. 13 is a section along line 1313 in Fig. 12.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the details'of construction and arrangements of parts shown in the drawings and hereinafter described indetail, but is capable of being otherwise embodied and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. It is to be further understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and there is no intention to herein limit the invention beyond the requirements of the prior art.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the shower head 10 is comprised of a bowl-shaped head 11 having a generally cupshaped perforated bottom wall 12 connected to an inverted, semi-ellipsoid, bowl-shaped annular side wall 13, by means of three equiangularly spaced, bayonet-like pins 14 fitted into generally L-shaped bayonet slots 15 formed in the annular side wall 13. The bayonet-like pins 14 form an integral part of the cup-shaped bottom wall 12 at the cylindrical upper portion thereof. The bowl-shaped head 11 is connected to a liquid supply pipe such as a water pipe 16 by means of a ball and socket universal joint 17. A water soluble material, preferably in the form of a pellet 18 is inserted inside the shower head 10 through an access door assembly 19, centrally positioned in the bottom wall 12 of the shower head 10.

More particularly, the ball and socket assembly 17 is comprised of a ball end nut 20 threaded over the adjoining end of the water pipe 16. The ball end nut 20 has a central opening 21 for conducting Water from the pipe 16 into the bowl-shaped portionll of the shower head 10. A complementary socket nut 22, forming a part of the ball and socket assembly 17, is fitted over the ball end nut 20 and threaded onto a reduced, bottle-like, upper end portion 23 of the annular side wall 13. The opening 21 in the ball end nut 20 communicates with the interior oft-he bowl-shaped head 11 by means of a 3 throat-like entrance port 24 formed in its reduced upper end 23.

The access door 19 is generally semicircular, sectorlike panel 25 pivotally secured at its center by means of a vertically extending pivot pin 26. The pivot pin 26 can be a rivet or the like. The panel. 25, forming the access door 19, has an arcuate guide groove 27 in the lower face thereof mounted upon a correspondinglyshaped embossment or mating circular rib 28 concentrically formed in the upper side of the bottom wall 12 of the bowl-shaped head 11.

The access door 19 is adapted to form a closure or cover for a similarly shaped, semicircular opening 30, centrally formed in the bottom wall 12 of the bowl-shaped head 11. A downwardly projecting thumb tab 31, as shown in Fig. 2, is integrally connected to or formed with the door 13 and permits an operator to swing the door on its track 28 in a counterclockwise direction to open the door. The door 19 can be closed by rotating it in a clockwise direction about its turning axis formed by the pin 26, until the thumb tab 31 butts against a diametrically extending edge of the opening 30, as shown in Fig. 2. The perforations in the cup-shaped bottom wall 12 of the bowl-shaped head 11 preferably consist of three concentrically disposed rows of inverted frusto-conical apertures 33 which operate in a normal manner for causing a spray liquid to be emitted from the shower head 10. It is to be understood that other nozzle aperture configurations can be adopted where desired, and that the invention is not to be limited to the particular aperture configuration described.

Fig. 3 is drawn to a second embodiment of the invention and is comprised of a bowl-shaped head 11 principally comprised of the annular side wall 13 and the cupshaped bottom wall 12, coupled together and fastened to the water pipe 16 with the ball and socket assembly 17 generally the same as that described in Figs. 1 and 2. However, instead of a sector-shaped access door 19, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a gravity closed, poppet valve type access door 40 is provided. More particularly, the access door 40 is comprised of a valve disk 41 having a conical side wall 42 for seating in a mating, complementary valve seat 43. The access door 40 has a centrally located, upwardly extending, rod-like stem 44 connected to and slidably disposed within a guide sleeve 45.

The stem 44 has a transversely disposed pin 45 fitted in its upper end so as to form a pair of bayonet-like projections 46 adapted to be slidably guided in a pair of diametrically opposed parallel grooves 47 of substantially rectangular cross-section formed in the guide sleeve 45. The grooves 47 are vertically arranged so that the access door 40 can be moved vertically upwardly in the guide sleeve 45 and permit access to the interior of the bowlshaped head 11.

The guide sleeve 45, Fig. 3, is provided with a pair of diametrically opposed entry slots 48, at the lower end thereof, which are angularly displaced 90 relative to the vertical slots 47 in the sleeve 45. Each slot 48 interconnects with a guide groove 47 by means of a pair of generally horizontal arcuate grooves 50 of approximately 1r/ 2 length for permitting the bayonet projections 46 of the valve stem 44 to be inserted into the slots 48, rotated in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed from the bottom of Fig. 3, in the opposed arcuate grooves 50 until they are free to slide in the vertical guide grooves 47.

In order to secure the guide sleeve 45 in the open upper end of the side wall 13, it is provided with a tubular extension 52 of reduced diameter, but of the substantially same diameter as the opening in the upper end 23 of the bowl-shaped head 11. The upper end of the tubular projection 52 is adapted to be swaged over for clamping bowl-shaped head 11 by way of a plurality of obliquely, downwardly and outwardly directed ports 55 in the guide sleeve 45. The ports 55 can be arranged in a circle with as great a number of ports as desired, and of any suitable diameter. The water passing through the interior of the head 10 is permitted to flow out through the nozzle-like apertures 33, arranged in the same configuration as de scribed in Figs. 1 and 2.

The access door 40 can be assembled by inserting the bayonet-like projections 46 on the stem 44 into the slots 48, twisting the valve stem through or 1r/2 radians in the oppositely disposed arcuate grooves 46 until the valve stem 44 is free to be moved upwardly into the guide grooves 47 relative to the guide sleeve 45.

The access head 40 can be moved to the position indicated by the reference numeral 40', shown in hidden outline in Fig. 3, so as to permit the insertion of a liquid soluble capsule 18. A downwardly projecting flange or nib 56 is integrally connected to the bottom side of the valve disk 41 of the access door 40 for permitting the same to be contacted or gripped with the thumb and forefinger of an operator for opening the access door.

The embodiment of Figs. 4 and 4a is very similar to the embodiment of Fig. 3, but with the addition of a locking means for holding the access door 40 closed. The 90 arcuate grooves 50 of Fig. 3, are extended to in the Figs. 4, 4a, with the vertical grooves 47 remaining spaced 90 in a clockwise direction, Fig. 4a, from the entry slots 48, but with 45 arcuate, extension-forming grooves 50a for receiving the bayonet projections 46 in locking relationship therewith.

For purposes of assembling the access door 40, the bayonet projections 46 are inserted into the entry slots 48 and then the door 40 is twisted in a clockwise direction in the arcuate groove 50 and locked in the groove extensions 50a.

For opening the access door 40 after assembly, the door 40 is unlocked by twisting the door 40 through 45 in a counterclockwise direction in the groove extensions 50a and then the door 40 is raised upwardly with the bayonet projections sliding in the vertical grooves 47. The door is held open until the liquid soluble material 18 has been placed in the shower head 10. The door is then lowered and locked shut with the projections 46 in the locking grooves 50a. 4

Fig. 5 shows another embodiment generally similar to the embodiments of Figs. 4, 4a, but in the instant configuration the bayonet projections 46 on the stem 44 of the door 40 are slidably guided in two parallel helical grooves 47a formed in the retainer sleeve 45. The lower ends of the helical grooves 47a are provided with a pair of small arcuate runout grooves for purposes of locking the door 40 closed similar to the locking grooves 50a in Fig. 4a. Also the retainer sleeve 45 is provided with the entry slots 48 for the purpose of allowing the assembly of the door stem projections 46 in the helical grooves 47a. The nib 56 in Fig. 3 is replaced with a larger flange 56a for permitting a larger gripping surface for the operators thumb and forefinger.

Figs. 6 and 7 show another modification of Figs. 1 and 2. The access door 19 in the cup-shaped bottom wall 12 has been replaced with a sliding, generally trapezoidallyshaped, panel-type, positively operated access door means 60 having a curved panel body 61 disposed in a pair of parallel U-shaped guideways 62, integrally-formed with the inner surface of the annular sidewall 11 of the bowlshaped head 11. The trapezoidal door 60 is slidable in the guideways 62 around the inside of the sidewall 11 for opening and closing a similarly-shaped doorway 63 in the sidewall 13. A finger operated door opening and closing flange 64 is integrally connected to the panel body 61 on the outside of the upwardly extending leading edge thereof so as to protrude through the doorway 64 and thereby provide sufficient surface area to be grasped or engaged with the fingers of an operator.

Figs. 8 and 9 show a still further modification of Figs. 1 and 2. The centrally pivoted door 19 in Figs. 1 and 2 has been replaced with a cup-shaped door 80 adapted to open and close a central doorway 81 in the bottom wall 12 of the bowlshaped head 11. The outer sidewall of the door 80 is conical and seats in a mating conical seat in the bottom wall 12.

The door 80 is adapted to be moved upwardly out of the doorway 81 and swung through an are essentially normal to the near vertical axis of a headed pivot pin 82 sildably disposed in the bottom wall 12 and to which the door 80 is fixed. A peripherally serrated wheel 83 forms a head for the pivot pin 82 and thereby permits an operator to control the door S0. The head 83 also acts as a retainer for a coil spring 84 interposed between the outer surface of the bottom wall 12 and the head 83 for resiliently biasing the door 80 closed.

Nozzle openings 85 are formed in the door 80 for increasing the exhaust flow of liquid from the shower head 10. However, it is to be understood that the nozzle openings 85 can be eliminated as desired and also the access doors in the embodiments, of Figs. 1-5 can also have nozzle openings formed therein.

The embodiment shown in Figs. 10 and 11, is comprised of an access door 90 adapted to open and close a doorway 91 formed in the bottom wall 12 of the'bowl-shaped means 11, forming a part of the shower head 10. The access door 90 is a hollow, preferably plastic, spherica1ly shaped ball adapted to be seated upon a sonically-shaped perimeter of the doorway 91. The ball is comprised of two halves 99a and 90!), with the ball half 9012 having a slug of heavy metal 92, such as lead, therein for weighting the door shut about its hinge assembly 93. The hinge assembly 93 is comprised of a laterally outwardly protruding lug 94 having a pair of aligned, oppositely protruding male hinges 95 adapted to be forced or snapped into a pair of complementary female recesses, formed in upstanding parallel support members 97. The support members 97 are integrally formed with the upper side of the bottom wall 12.

Figs. 12 and 13 show a shower head similar to that shown in Figs. 6 and 7, only in this instance a positivelyoperated, rectangular, panel-type access door 98 is adapted to be slid up and down in a pair of parallel, upwardly extending U-shaped guideways 99 integrally formed in the inside of the annular sidewall 13 of the bowl-shaped head 11 for opening and closing a similarly shaped doorway 100. The doorway 100 extends upwardly from the upper edge of the cup-shaped bottom wall .12 of the bowl-shaped head 11. A door flange 101 is integrally connected to the leading edge of the door 98 and extends through the doorway 100 so as to permit an operator to engage or grasp the same for moving the door 98.

'It is to be understood that the various shower heads can be manufactured in a conventional manner and made of any suitable material or combination of materials although an all-plastic shower head of any of many colors is preferred for the reasons presented in the objects.

It is also to be understood that the access doors and doorways can be of any suitable size which is largely dependent upon the quantity and size of the soluble material desired to be used and the size of the shower head.

While we have shown and described several specified embodiments in accordance with our invention, it is understood that the same is susceptible of many changes and modifications, as known to a person skilled in the art, and we intend to cover all such changes and modifications coming within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. In a shower head for a liquid supply pipe, bowlshaped means having an annular side wall and a bottom wall with nozzle openings, said bottom wall having a substantially circular opening with side surfaces flaring outwardly toward the interior of said bowl-shaped means,

a weighted ball-shaped member normally positioned substantially interiorly of said bowl-shaped means to close said opening with its peripheral surface in snug engagement with said flaring surfaces, and pivot means on the interior surface of said bottom wall permitting pivotal movement of said ball-shaped member toward and away from said opening, said ball-shaped member when positioned to close said opening having a portion projecting outwardly beyond the external surface of said bottom wall exposed for engagement by an operator.

2. In a shower head for a liquid supply pipe, bowlshaped means including an annular side wall and a bottom wall forming an enclosure, said bottom wall having a plurality of apertures through which liquid under pressure may pass when the bowl-shaped means is attached to a liquid supply pipe, said bottom wall having an opening defining a doorway which is unobstructed at its entrance so that an operator may manually insert a liquid soluble capsule into the enclosure through the doorway, and a door mounted by the bowl-shaped means for movement relative to the doorway to open and close the doorway, said opening having an annular side wall flaring outwardly toward the enclosure, said door having surfaces 'which snugly engage the flaring side wall of the opening when the door closes the doorway, said door when positioned to close the doorway being exposed for manual engagement by an operator to be moved upwardly from the bottom wall toward the enclosure to open the doorway, said door being prevented from movement to a position wherein liquid pressure holds the door to open the doorway, said door when released by an operator being movable by the force of gravity to close the doorway.

3. In a shower head for a liquid supply pipe, bowlshaped means including an annular side wall and a bottom wall forming an enclosure, said bottom wall having a plurality of apertures through which liquid under pressure may pass when the bowl-shaped means is attached to a liquid supply pipe, sadi bottom wall having an opening defining a doorway which is unobstructed at its entrance so that an operator may manually insert a liquid soluble capsule into the enclosure through the doorway, and a door comprising a weighted ball-shaped member mounted by the bowl-shaped means substantially within the enclosure for pivotal movement relative to the doorway to open and close the doorway, said opening having an annular side wall flaring outwardly toward the enclosure, said ball-shaped member having a peripheral surface which snugly engages the flaring side wall of the opening when the ball-shaped member closes the doorway, said ball-shaped member when positioned to close the doorway having a portion projecting outwardly beyond the external surface of the bottom wall exposed for manual engagement by an operator to be moved inwardly toward the enclosure to open the doorway, said ball-shaped member being prevented from movement to a position wherein liquid pressure holds the ball-shaped member to open the doorway.

4. In a shower head for a liquid supply pipe, bowlshaped means including an annular side wall, a cupshaped bottom wall, a bayonet and bayonet slot structure detachably connecting the bottom wall and the side wall to form an enclosure, said bottom wall having a plurality of apertures through which liquid under pressure may pass when the bowl-shaped means is attached to a liquid supply pipe, said bottom wall having an opening defining a doorway which is unobstructed at its entrance so that an operator may manually insert a liquid soluble capsule into the enclosure through the doorway, and a door comprising a hollow ball-shaped member mounted by the bowl-shaped means substantially within the enclosure for pivotal movement relative to the doorway to open and close the doorway, a weight within the hollow of the ballshaped member, said opening having an annular side wall flaring outwardly toward the enclosure, said ball-shaped member having a peripheral surface which snugly engages the flaring side wall of the opening when the door closes the doorway, said ball-shaped member when positioned to close the doorway having a portion projecting outwardly beyond the external surface of the bottom wall exposed for manual engagement by an operator to be moved inwardly toward the enclosure to open the doorway, said ball-shaped member being prevented from movement to a position wherein liquid pressure holds the ball-shaped member to open the doorway.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Barnes July 3, Hunt et a1. Feb. 2, McConnell Nov. 17, Beam May 24,

FOREIGN PATENTS Australia June 8, Great Britain Feb. 4, France Jan. 29, 

